I'm a sport climber looking to get into mountaineering, shopping for packs. So far it seems evident that one ideally versatile pack, which would allow one to transition seamlessly from hiking up glaciers on rainier to alpine rock routes in the cascades, doesn't really exist...I understand it is a common practice to have two packs, one for carrying gear for camping in the back country, and another smaller day pack for actually climbing? Any recommendations for either? I was looking at osprey's variant 52 L for the former - any reviews? Any advice in general is welcome, actually, as, if I haven't inadvertently made it clear already, I am still a total noob in this area :)

Thanks, but I'm not really looking for a cragging pack - say I was planning to do things like fisher chimneys on mt. shuksan, the north ridge of mt. stuart, etc, and also possibly tagging along for the dc route on rainier in may or june. As I'm new to the sport, all my gear is the brand new super light stuff that packs down small, so I was hoping to get away with a ~50 L pack for rainier that could also be cinched down to carry smaller loads for more alpine things - essentially I am looking for something versatile, capable of holding gear for 2-3 days max, that most importantly climbs well. Anyone know of a pack like that?

The Cilo Gear 60 liter worksack is the heat. No, it won't be perfect for every climb you do in the Cascades, but it will come close. It's big enough to carry substantial loads over a distance, but compressible enough to use when actual technical climbing starts up. You can easily remove the hip belt, the lid/brain, the bivy pad, etc.

I've used this pack on Rainier, the east side of the Cascades, backpacking in AK, and cragging all over. It's tough as nails and lightweight. No logos on the pack anywhere, and every piece is replaceable. My two cents...

yeah, i got the drift; which is why i linked u to a thread that got into the subject of packs beyond [what i would consider] crag bags few posts down (including cilogear and other larger, multi-purpose packs)

by the way, as a more direct answer to your question, consensus around here seems to be cilogear.

Cilogear is the "new" standard answer to your question. Cold Cold World and Wild Things have been at the top of many people's list for years (decades?). Osprey packs used to have a poor reputation for climbing but the Variant series changed many people's minds.

Feathered Friends or Second Ascent will likely have one or more of these packs available to try on. Feathered Friends' retail store is located catercorner to REI, and they carry a wide selection of gear (not just their own stuff). And Second Ascent also has new gear, not only used items. The staff are of course knowledgeable and helpful.

Also search the boards at Cascade Climbers for similar questions; there are some helpful posts there.

I used a fully striped down BD Speed 40L on Liberty Ridge this year and it worked great. With careful packing you can easily do Rainier with a 40L pack like the Speed 40 which will be MUCH cheaper and not that much heavier than the equivalent Cilo Gear pack.